I was sitting in the same room. Twenty new faces, yet I hadn’t looked at a single one. There’s a famous idiom that comes to mind when recalling this moment: you can either see a glass as half full or half empty. I’m a strong believer in how thoughts can completely control your perception of reality. Therefore, I hadn’t gained twenty freshmen; I had lost ten seniors: seniors who were my best friends, seniors who could, without a doubt, make me laugh—quite uncontrollably at that—and seniors who often became a reason for coming to school. So, how could I acknowledge the replacements for all of those presences? This was my perception of the entirety of the freshman class, up until I was partnered up with a freshman named Marcus.

Now, Marcus and I didn’t have many traits and hobbies in common. However, as we brainstormed for our collaborative project, we ended up choosing a viral baking challenge.

Now, the success and enjoyment of the project are not what I’d like to focus on. Rather, having such a great time with Marcus helped me realize it was unfair to categorize all these new faces as “replacements.”

The following day, I showed up to class with a bit of a different perspective. As I walked through the doorway, the pain of remembering that a few of my closest friends had left still hit hard; however, I did not let that block my view this time. I am a strong believer that thoughts control your perspective on life. So in my case, a little open-mindedness helped me realize the creativity, spirit, happiness, and community the freshman class brings to the room every day. So I made a promise to myself at this exact moment to try to show a fraction of it back. In this moment, I ended up realizing that’s what this community does. Our creative writing class is so naturally bonded that the students end up becoming so close with one another, and it’s all through natural human interaction. Human chemistry.

Sure, I may still walk into Room 237 and feel a bit of heartache, but that won’t stop me from enjoying so many exciting connections. I’ve learned to come to terms with the fact that the seniors have graduated, and I still miss them very much, but I can call this chapter of my life acceptance. The graduated seniors have showed me how great the creative writing community is, and the freshmen class have reminded me that it is still growing.